Feed wheel for spool machines



C. S. BROWN.

FEED WHEEL FOR SPOUL MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1922.

1 421 395 Patented July 4, 1922.

3mm. (,kwle B ow CHARLES S. BROWN, 0F BE'IHEL, MAINE.

FEED WHEEL FOR SPOGL MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4., 1922.

Application filed March 9, 1922. Serial No. 5 12305.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Crraanns S. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bethel, in the county of Oxford and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed Wheels for Spool Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates toa feeding wheel for cylindrical blanks for spool turning lathes.

The spool machine to which my invention is particularly applicable is a machine in common use for turning and finishing spools, such a machine being clearly shown in Patent No. 317,601 dated May 12, 1885.

In this machine and others of its class, cylindrical spool blanks having a central hole are dumped into a hopper from. which they are lifted one at a time and discharged into a spout or runway leading to the lathe or spool machine.

The blanks are picked from the hopper by a rotating wheel haying arms or spokes which pass through an elongated slot in the bottom of the hopper of approximately the same width as the diameter of the blank.

These arms are provided with pins extending longitudinally forward in the direction of the line of motion of the ends of the arms and as they pass through the elongated slots spoken of, the blanks are picked up one at a time by the pin which enters the central hole in the blank.

The blanks are kept constantly stirred and while every spoke does not pick up a blank there are a suiiicient number which happen to fall or dispose themselves in such a position as to allow the pin to be thrust through the central .hole and be thus raised out of the hopper by the rotation of the wheel.

hen the blank thus impaled on the end of the pin reaches the vicinity of the runway or spout it is discharged from the end of the spoke into the spout.

In order to do this, however, mechanism has to be arranged for slipping the blank from the end of the pin so that it may be laterally forced into the spout or runway, and this operation must be quickly done so that the blank after being stripped from. the pin may be quickly removed from the path of rotation of the spoke.

This operation is the one now commonly used in such machines and it has certain disadvantages which it is the object of my 1nvention to correct.

In the first place, it is necessary to bore the blanks before they can be treated as l have described and this is done while the blanks are in the shape of a bar, the indi vidual blanks being cut from the bar into approximately the right length for a spool.

Another disadvantage which requires a device of some complication is the necessity for stripping'the blank from. the pin when both the blank and pin are in motion on the radial spoke.

I overcome these disadvantages in the first place by treating the blank while it is unbored and in the form of a plain cylinder which has simply been cut from a round spool bar.

These cylindrical blanks are charged into the same hopper used in the old machine but they are picked up, one at a time, fitting themselves into a suitable open recess at the extreme end of the radial spoke as the latter passes through the groove in the hopper and are thus raised from the hopper. From. the

hopper the blank is held in its recess until the discharge point is arrived at.

At this point the blank is simply knocked laterally from the shallow recess which holds it, falling into the feed spout which leads to the lathe.

. From the feed spout the blanks pass to the lathe where they may be bored and turned.

I have illustrated my invention by a draw' ing which shows certain portions of the machine shown in Patent No. 317,601, enough of the drawing of this patent being reproduced to illustrate the use of my invention.

The parts common to my device and the machine illustrated in said patent are lettered as shown in the patent.

In my drawing:

Fig. 1 is a general side view of the wheel as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the patent,

Fig 2 is a vertical section through the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 at the lower portion of the hopper as shown in'Fig. 2 of the patent,

Fig. 8 is a detail section taken on the line 11 of Fig. 1, v

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the spout or runway leading to the lathe, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 5,

Fig. 5 is a plan of the spout or runway one of the cylindrical blanks sists of an angular;

with adjacent portions of the feed wheel illustrating the manner of discharging the blanks into the spout,

Fig. 6 is a plan of one of my spokes and, Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the same.

Referring to the drawing, B represents the feed wheel and b one of the spokes thereof.

A represents the hopper and a the narrow elongated slot in the bottom thereof and A is the feed spout leading to the hopper.

At the extreme outer end or" my spoke is formed a shallow recess 2 adapted to receive D. As here shown, the shallow recess connotch formed in the enlarged head 3 of the spoke, the sides of the notch extending at right angles to each other and the axis of the notch or the general direction of the same being in the line of motion of the end of the spoke.

At the rear end of the notch is formed a rest or projection 4: for supporting the end of the blank as it passes upward to the discharge point.

As these spokes pass through the loaded hopper and especially through the narrow portion a, more or less of: the blanks will fit themselves into the recess 2 resting against thebase 4 and in that position, they are carried to the discharge point above the hopper.

As soon as the spoke lifts the blank from the body of the blanks inthe hopper, means are used for holding the spool in its recess until discharged.

For this purpose as herein shown, I pro vide a curved guide 8 located adjacent to the wheel and curved to follow the path of the blank and ,the .endot the spokes.

here shown, the guide 8 is formed of two halves secured together by flangesS) bolted together or otherwise fastened.

The inside surface of the guide is substantially the shape of the blank in cross section so that as the spoke passes upward, the blank is held in position in therecess 2.

Opposite the upper end of the wheel is the feed spout 10 intowhich the blanks are discharged laterally from the shallow recess 2 as the spokes pass in succession by the'end of the spout 10.

Any suitable means may be provided for kicking off the blanks laterally and causing them to roll down the spout. For this purpose, I provide a wire 11 which is secured to the guide 8 being so bent that when the blanks pass the end of the spout 10, it forces it laterally into the spout and out of its recess a.

It is found in practice that my spokes as described pickup a Slll'llGlGIlt number of drical blanks for blanks to keep the tion even if each blank.

lily device is also much more simple and practical, requiring less parts than the feed ing mechanism used in the old machine.

It is evident that various forms of recess may be used for receiving and carrying the blanks as I havedescribed with its axis practically in the line of motion. Also, other means may be provided for kicking off the blanks from the shallow recess into the feed spout where they are to be discharged.

I claim l.In a feeding device for feeding cylindrical blanks for spool and other like machines, the combination of a hopper for the blanks, a wheel rotating adjacent to said hopper and having radial arms passing through said hopper and terminating in radially open recesses closed in the rear of the arms for receiving the blanks, guides for holding the blanks in said recesses as the wheel turns, a feed spout for the spool machine and means for forcing the blanks laterally from said recesses into said feed spout.

2. In a feeding device for drical blanks for spool and chines, the combination of a blanks, a wheel rotating adjacent to said hopper and having radial arms each terminating in a radially open recess closed in the rear of the arms fitted to receive the blanks when their axes are parallel with the line of motion of said recess, a guide for holding the blanks in said recess as the wheel turns, a feed spout for the spool machine and means for forcing the blanks laterally into said feed spout.

in a feeding device for drical blanks for spool andother like machines, the combination of a hopper for the blanks, a wheel rotating'adjacent to said hopper and having radial arms passing through said hopper and. terminating in radially open recesses closed in the rear of the arms for receiving the blanks, and means for discharging said blanks from said recesses.

l. In a feeding spool machine in operaone does not pick up a feeding cylinother like maieeding cylindevice for feeding cylinspool and other like machines, the combination of a hopper for the blanks, a wheel rotating :adjacent to'said hopper for the,

hopper and having radial arms each term1nating in a radially open recess, said recess having adjacent angular sides and a rest *or projection at itsrear and means for discharging said blanks laterally from said recesses into a feed spout.

CHARLES s. BROWN. 

